NAALA-BA (LOOK FUTURE)

ISEA2013 AND CARRIAGEWORKS PRESENT

NAALA-BA (LOOK FUTURE)

Naala-Ba in Dharug language is an apt description of the three works presented here for ISEA 2013. The works span from desert country of the Pilbara in Western Australia, depicting fearsome ancestral stories; across the continent to the metropolitan hub of Brisbane, Queensland’s capital city, to view portrayals of the ongoing fight against neo-colonial oppression; then down to the NSW central plains in Riverina country, to gain an insight into some of the matriarchal customs and rituals that refuse to be bowed by the impact of colonisation.

Everything in Naala-ba is a contemporary representation of the world’s oldest living culture – our culture – Aboriginal Australia – the First Nations of this land.

-Merindah Donnelly, Indigenous Creative Producer, ISEA2013

Cannibal Story
Yunkurra Billy Atkins & Sohan Ariel Hayes

Cannibal Story brings to life ancient carnivorous beings that live beneath Kumpupirntily (Lake Disappointment), a salt lake at the heart of Martu country, in the Western Desert, Western Australia. Yunkurra Billy Atkins is the great animator of the dark narratives that score this area where Martu fear to tread, and his beguiling paintings have intrigued and challenged art lovers for many years. Now new audiences are invited into the world of his art, his imagination and his country, as Yunkurra’s paintings are brought to life through his collaboration with award-winning animator Sohan Ariel Hayes. Cannibal Story gives sound and emotion (and a touch of violence) to the beauty and danger of Yunkurra’s original paintings.

Yunkurra Billy Atkins, a Martu artist, lawman and storyteller, was born at Well 9 on the Canning Stock Route and grew up in the country around Wiluna, but returned north to his ancestral homelands, which includes Lake Disappointment, Savory Creek and Jilakurru. He is a knowledgeable senior Martu man and an authority on these important Martu places.His art works are included in the collections of The National Gallery of Australia, The National Museum of Australia, and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Sohan Ariel Hayes is a Perth-based media artist working in the fields of expanded and interactive cinema, animation, pervasive games, systems theory, and locative media. His work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally.
Digital HD video, duration 06:52 mins, col, sd, 2012. Courtesy of the artists, Fremantle Arts Centre and Martumili Artists

Cannibal Story is a co-production of Fremantle Arts Centre, City of Fremantle and Martumili Artists, Shire of East Pilbara, supported by Martu People Limited and BHP Billiton.

Terraist – Gordon Hookey

Terraist is Gordon Hookey’s response to the occupation of Australia by the establishment of Terra Nullius, and its subsequent legacy for generations of disempowered and uprooted Indigenous people. He uses the iconic Australian marsupial, the kangaroo, as his motif of resistance; ironically the same animal that is used to adorn the Australian flagship carrier Qantas. Hookey coined the term ‘Terraism’, taken from ‘Terra Nullius’, to push an Aboriginal agenda in the debate in regards to the continual fight for land. Terraism is an attempt to disarm the hypocrisy of the governmental finger pointers, whilst emphasising that Aboriginal rights are the last thing to be considered when it comes to the investments, decisions, and excuses made over land by the Australia government.

Gordon Hookey’s work combines figurative characters, iconic symbols, bold comic like text, and a spectrum of vibrant colours. Through this visual language he has developed a unique and immediately recognisable style.

Shifter is a ‘lo-fi’ film that merges past and present while anchoring ideas of spiritual practice in a historical context. Using movement to access altered states of awareness is a common practice worldwide. In ritual the movement often accelerates, and sound becomes louder, layered and intense, as energy is raised. In this work, in contrast, the image is slowed down and the sound bed minimal, in order to allow the viewer access to ‘the space that is experienced in between’. Shifter reflects aspects of self co-existing, each informing and experiencing the other – shifting and morphing, yet holding the same space, represented by the circle. The work highlights a capacity, and often a need to shapeshift in the world. In its broadest sense, shapeshifting is when a being has the ability to alter its physical appearance; cultivated, this becomes a skill and an asset, and allows for multifaceted expressions of authenticity.

Naretha Williams is an interdisciplinary artist whose bloodlines are Wiradjuri (NSW), English, Irish and Chinese. She creates work that explores, questions, provokes and dismantles ideas around identity, culture, esoteric knowledge and contemporary shamanics.